Are you tired of scrolling through endless, irrelevant product listings on generalist e-commerce websites? If so, keep reading, because it's time to discover the rise of vertical marketplaces and why they're becoming one of the most important trends in e-commerce. Let's start with the definition.
What is a vertical marketplace?
A vertical marketplace is an online platform focused on a particular industry, category or audience, offering a more customised and relevant shopping experience than a generalist marketplace can. Think DIY and home improvement, fashion resale, or sports equipment, rather than "everything."
The rise of vertical marketplaces
E-commerce retailers like Amazon and eBay have dominated online retail for years, but the landscape is shifting quickly thanks to the rise of vertical marketplaces. A few reasons explain why they're trending right now:
Increased e-commerce adoption: With more consumers shopping online, there's high demand for marketplaces that connect buyers and sellers in a convenient, efficient way.
Increased competition: As the e-commerce market has become more crowded, competition among marketplaces themselves has intensified, pushing platforms to differentiate by specialising.
Customer demand: Shoppers increasingly want to find exactly what they're looking for, faster, from sellers who understand their category, which is precisely what a focused marketplace delivers.
The results speak for themselves: Vinted, the fashion-resale specialist, grew revenue 38% in 2025 alone, and ManoMano now draws over 50 million monthly visitors across its six European markets, growth rates most generalist platforms would envy.
What is the difference between vertical and horizontal marketplaces?
An online marketplace for buying and selling construction equipment would be a vertical marketplace. Horizontal marketplaces, on the other hand, are online platforms that offer a wide range of different products or services to a broad audience. These horizontal marketplaces aren't focused on any specific audience, as is the case for Amazon, eBay, Cdiscount and OTTO. They offer products and services designed to appeal to the broadest possible range of customers.
Examples of vertical marketplaces in Europe: marketplaces can be either horizontal or vertical depending on what they sell, and which model dominates can vary by country, industry and other factors. That said, several vertical marketplaces have become genuine European household names:
Founded in Paris in 2013, ManoMano is Europe's leading online destination for DIY, gardening and home improvement, active in France, Spain, Italy, Germany, Belgium and the UK, with over 50 million monthly visitors across those six markets. Unlike generalist marketplaces, it doesn't compete with its own sellers, and thousands of professional merchants use it to reach shoppers who are actively working on a project.
Founded in Berlin in 2008, Zalando is Europe's leading online fashion platform, with a record 62 million active customers across roughly 25 European markets, following its 2025 acquisition of About You. It remains the reference point for branded fashion, footwear and beauty online.
Vinted
Founded in Lithuania in 2008, Vinted is Europe's leading C2C fashion-resale marketplace, with over 120 million registered users across roughly 26 markets. In 2025 alone, its revenue grew 38% to €1.1 billion and its GMV grew 47% to €10.8 billion, one of the clearest examples of a vertical marketplace outgrowing the generalists around it.
Decathlon
Europe's number-one sports retailer generated €16.2 billion in total revenue in 2024, with digital sales reaching 20% of that total. Decathlon has been actively expanding its own third-party marketplace, now open to external sellers in more than ten EU countries, giving sports, outdoor and fitness brands access to a vast, trusted, sport-specific audience.
What are the benefits of vertical marketplaces?
Vertical marketplaces tailor their product selection and marketing to customers' specific needs and interests within one platform. As competition across e-commerce intensifies, more sellers are looking for ways to stand out from the competition. Vertical marketplaces offer several concrete benefits sellers can take advantage of:
Targeted audiences: vertical marketplaces let sellers reach a high concentration of buyers already interested in the exact products on offer, which means more qualified leads and, potentially, more sales.
Cost savings: because vertical marketplaces focus on a specific industry, sellers and the platform itself can benefit from economies of scale within that category.
Brand image: selling on a respected specialist platform can enhance a seller's reputation within their industry, building trust with buyers and, in turn, increasing sales.
Overall, vertical marketplaces offer sellers a combination of industry expertise, enhanced reputation and more relevant customer traffic than a generalist alternative typically provides.
Vertical marketplaces: the future of e-commerce?
As technology advances, more platforms are embracing the power of network effects and the opportunities that come with them. Brands can now connect with target audiences and build strong, engaged online communities, turning word-of-mouth into a genuine growth channel. Real-time data analysis also makes it easier to adapt quickly to shifting market trends. Vertical marketplaces are set to play a significant role in the future of e-commerce: as more consumers shop online, demand for specific, well-curated product ranges will only grow, giving sellers the opportunity to:
Think smart and creative about their category positioning
Offer more innovative, tailored marketplace experiences
The driving force behind this growth is simple: vertical marketplaces can offer a more personalised shopping experience, which in turn increases customer loyalty, satisfaction and sales. That said, sellers should go in aware of a few real challenges too:
High competition: because vertical marketplaces concentrate sellers within the same category, standing out from close competitors on the same platform can be harder than on a generalist marketplace.
Dependency on the marketplace: selling on a vertical marketplace makes sellers dependent on that platform for sales, a real risk if the marketplace runs into legal or logistical trouble that affects sellers' ability to deliver.
Sales and subscription fees: most vertical marketplaces charge sellers to list or sell, and these fees, whether monthly, annual or per-sale, vary widely and can add up to a significant cost at volume.
Manage every marketplace, vertical or horizontal, from one place
Whether you're expanding into a specialist platform like ManoMano or Decathlon, or scaling across the generalists, keeping product data, stock and orders in sync across every channel gets harder with each new marketplace you add. Lengow's NetMarkets lets you manage your presence across vertical and horizontal marketplaces alike from a single platform.
Frequently asked questions
ManoMano (DIY and home improvement), Vinted (fashion resale), Zalando (fashion) and Decathlon (sports equipment) are all well-known European examples of vertical marketplaces.
Amazon is a horizontal marketplace: it sells virtually every product category to the broadest possible audience, rather than specialising in one industry or customer group.
Access to a highly targeted, high-intent audience, potential cost savings through category-specific economies of scale, and the chance to build brand reputation within a specific industry.
Higher competition from sellers in the same niche, dependency on a single platform for sales, and marketplace fees that can add up significantly at scale.
